Apparatus to be used in casting metal



Nov. 2J 1937. y w. F. EPE-N'STHNER 2,097,658

APPARATUS TO BE-USED IN CASTING METAL Filed Sept. 22, 1954 Il l ff Wfm/XWWNTO V Patented Nov. 2, y1937 PATENT oli-FICE .1,097,658 APPARATUS 'ro BE usan mcAs'rnvG METAL William F. Eppenstelner, Raliway, N. J., assigner to The American Metal Company, Limited, New York, N. lY., a corporation of New York Application september z2, 1934, sei-iai No. 745,062

2 Claims.

'This invention relates to improved apparatus to be used in casting metal, and particularly copper, in vertical molds of relatively small size inV horizontal cross-section.

It is an object of the invention to provide an open top, vertical mold of a form adapted for use in the casting oi.l copper wire bars having tapered en'd portions of lengths such that the ends of each tapered portion may be cropped and leave a 1o bar having substantially like tapered portions at its opposite ends;

In the accompanying drawing illustrating novel apparatus embodying the invention:-

Figure 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view l through a vertical mold, a portion of. a furnace including a spout, a funnel by which metal poured from the spout may be directed into the mouth of the mold, and movable funnel-supporting means whereby the relative position of the 20 funnel with respect to the spout and mold may be adjusted, the cutting plane of the section being represented by the line i-i of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of themold, funnel and funnel-supporting means illustrated by Fig. 1.

Fig. dais a vertical, cross-sectional View of the mold, funnel and funnel-.supporting means illustrated by Fig. 2, the cutting plane being repre-v sented by the line 3--3 of Fig. 2. r

In Figure 1 is represented in vertical cross sec- 30 tion a mold 2U broken away between its'top and bottom so as to leave its height indefinite, but intended to be of vertical dimensions several times greater than its internal horizontal crosssectional dimensions. This mold may preferably 35 be of copper adaptedjor use ln the casting of copper bars'or billets oi any desired cross-.sectional form but of relatively great length as compared with such cross-sectional dimensions. The lower end of the mold may be closed by a sepm arable bottom or door 2i, which may be hinged or otherwise secured to the overlying part of the structure by means (not shown) whereby it may be swung clear of the opening in the mold and permit a bar or billet cast therein to be dropped 15 freely therefrom through its bottom.

If desired, the walls of the mold, as Well'as the bottom, may be provided with hollow chambers (not shown) through which cooling water ,may be circulated as a means of regulating the tempera-- 5@ ture oi the mold prior to and during a .castingoperation.

e above-described features whereby the mold y be water-cooled and the bottom swung clear ofthe mold cavity to release a casting involve no' ,5 part of the invention herein soughttobe-pro-4 tected and need not, therefore, be illustrated or described in detail.

An important ieatm'e of the invention consists in deeply recessing the mold bottom. as at 22, in such manner that a. stream of metal poured into 5 the mold through its open top in a direction such as to clear the side walls of the mold may fall into the approximate centeroi the recess 22 and very quickly accumulate a small pool or puddle of metal, so that before the surface o! the molten metal has risen through the bottom of the mold proper, a sucient quantity of molten metal will have accumulated to receive the iniiowing stream of metal without any further material degree of spattering, after which the pouring may be continued by maintaining a substantially vertical stream through the approximate central portion of the mold and clear of its side walls until the mold has' been completely lled. y

As a means of pouring metal in a substantially vertical stream down the approximate center of the mold, a suitable implement such, for example, as a funnel 23, may be held below the spout 2t of the furnace or other reservoir 25, from which v the molten metal is to be supplied, by an appropriate movable supporting runway 26. The funnelrnay be mounted in a carriage El provided with roliers 28 by means of which it may be moved along the runway in one direction, and the runway may be plvotally connected with any available means of support and provided with a handle Z by which it y be swung about the axis O, O, Fig. l, as indicated by broken lines til-oil, Fig. 2. The funnel 223 may be provided with a detachable pouring spout 3i, which may be selected from an 35 assortment ot spouts or diderent sizes, and by thus yselecting a spout oi proper size and by carefully adjusting the position of the funnel over the mold by moving the carriage along the runway and swinging the runway to the proper angular 40 position by means of the handle 2li), a stream of any desired sim may be directed 'vertically down the center of the mold, clear of its side walls, into the depression 2 at its bottom.

The funnel or other implement used as an aid indirecting the stre of metal from the furnace spout 2t into the mold and the specific means employed to support and adjust the position f .such implement constitute no part of the invention to be claimed herein. 50

The mold cavity or trlx 2t may be of either square or` circular .form in cross section and of proportions such as to be used in the casting of bars to be first rolled and then drawn in the process oi making wire. To this end the matrix 55 the tapered lower end which may be cropped oi at a level X, X, and at or near the upper end of its upper tapered portion, as at the level Y, Y, and leave a wire lbar having both of its ends tapered in a form such as to facilitate the entrance of the bar between the rolls of a rolling mill.

When the depression in the bottom of the mold is of a depth compared with its cross-sectional dimensions such as to render the swinging of the bottom of the mold clear of the mold cavity difficult without placing the axis of its hinged connection at a distance so far from the axis of the mold cavity as to be impracticable, the bottom may be dropped from the mold with the casting and subsequently separated therefrom. Since the casting is at a higher temperature than the bottom when the casting is separated from the mold, the casting will contract during cooling to a greater extent than will the bottom, so that no dimculty will be involved in separating the bottom from the end of the casting. The wall of the matrix may, if desired, as is usual in molds for casting, be gently ared outwardly from the lower level of its upper tapered endportion 32 to the upper level of the bottom or door 2|, but the degree of such are should not be materially greater than is necessary to freely release a cast ingot from the mold 20. when not supported by the said bottom or door.

of the resulting casting.'

The invention is not intended to be limited to thefspecic form of apparatus herein disclosed for purposes of illustration,but should be regarded as including modications and variations thereof within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed isz- 1. An open top, vertical mold, of a form adapted for use in the casting of copper wire bars, comprising copper castings united to form a matrix several diameters in length, with inwardly aring upper and lower portions, the mold comprising sections separable along a dividing plane disposed transversely with respect to its longitudinal axis and lying between the parts thereof which enclose the inwardly aring portions of the matrix, the portions of the matrix of reduced cross-sectional dimensions being of lengths greater than the desired lengths of the tapered end portions of the wire bar to be cast, whereby the part cast in the upper end of the mold and the part cast in the bottom of the reduced portion of, the matrix in which the initial pool of metal is formed at the commencement of the pouring of a casting, may be cropped oi and leave a bar having tapered portions at its opposite ends.

2. A mold, as defined by claim 1, of which the transversely disposed plane along which the sections are separable is located at the level at which the lower flaring portion of the matrix merges with the portion lying between the two ilaring portions.

WILLIAM F. EPPENSTEINER. 

